Youth unemployment is running at record levels, so should B2B brands be making more effort to nurture the next generation of marketing talent? Maxine-Laurie Marshall investigates
The number of 16-21 year-olds without a job hit one million this year, but despite being down on their luck, young people represent a significant untapped resource for companies, and marketing departments in particular. Internships and apprenticeships are not only valuable experience for job seekers, but those seeking applicants can also reap the rewards. Demonstrating this point is technology company Infosys, who has recently announced it is to develop an apprenticeship scheme for its marketing and HR departments with the National Apprenticeship Scheme (NAS). Similarly, managed services provider Ricoh has also been getting behind its intern programme lately, by promoting blog posts from its current marketing intern.
So should your marketing department also be nurturing the next generation of young talent?
New talent in the form of interns and apprentices is thought to keep ideas moving within business. Not only is youth renowned for questioning convention but it’s also savvy with cutting-edge technology and trends. Speaking about the business benefits, Chas Moloney, marketing director at Ricoh UK says, “The most obvious benefit is a fresh pair of eyes and different opinion on all aspects of marketing.” Also recognising this benefit is Chris Wilson, chairman of ABBA. He says, “A certain naivety can often bring a fresh perspective and energy to the company.”
If you choose to breathe some new life into your department via young talent, do you opt for an internship or an apprenticeship?
Internship vs apprenticeship?
An apprenticeship results in a qualification and the apprentice is considered an employee and must be paid, the minimum wage for an apprentice is £2.60 an hour. The guidelines for internships are less strict.
There is no legal obligation to pay interns, however if they are behaving like employees i.e. have a contract and are conducting work in place of an employee, you could be breaching the national minimum wage (NMW) regulations if you don’t pay them.
Jo Bance, deputy marketing director at Worldwide Business Research has two-to-four interns working in the marketing department at any one time and the placements last between three and six months. She uses interns to fill a temporary skills gap within her team.
Often doing international work there is a language barrier so Bance hires a German or Turkish speaking intern, for example. When asked if she would consider upgrading the programme to a more formal apprenticeship she said it was unlikely. “It’s as formal as it needs to be, we cover travel and lunch costs, the interns have a temporary contract, and it allows flexibility if we would like them to stay longer or if they would like to leave.”
Infosys, however, has opted to pursue the idea of an apprenticeship. Despite already running a global internship programme, InStep, Binod HR, senior vice president at Infosys, said it launched its UK apprenticeship scheme with the “aim to develop and support learners to achieve long-term employability through a combination of training and gainful employment.”
A learning experience all round
Infosys’ new scheme will begin in September, and each apprenticeship will last for 12 to 18 months. The IT company expects its marketing apprentices will contribute to market research and work on marketing campaigns, as well as offer ideas on new marketing channels.
Ricoh aims to offer its interns a mix of soft and more technical skills. It values customer service so ensures its interns receive the same training as staff.
Bance explains it’s useful for offering management training for her senior marketers. “We’re big on developing staff and pushing people through the ranks, so giving my senior marketers the opportunity to manage interns is a valuable training opportunity.”Moloney says, “On top of that is the technical skills to do the job, so for a marketing intern they will spend an equal amount of time in campaigns, communications, digital and value proposition marketing to get a full breadth of understanding of the marketing function.” However, it’s not just the trainees that’ll be learning, running internships or apprenticeships can be a valuable teaching experience for your marketing team.
However, while the opportunities are great, there is a familiar problem that may be stopping more marketing departments from offering similar schemes. It takes time to train interns up and Anita Stubbs, director of education at the CIM, speculates that marketing departments may simply be too busy to nurture young talent. “We tried to conduct some research into opinions about apprenticeships and people were reluctant to take part. Perhaps it’s because marketing departments are busy and can’t always take people on who can’t hit the ground running.”
Despite this, there seems to be a greater emphasis on the benefits, for both marketing departments and applicants. Bance concludes, “Having a marketing internship on your CV is essential these days. When I was recruiting for a marketing executive position I had 300 applications in 10 days. A few years ago, I would have expected this volume within a month. I now don’t look at applicants who haven’t completed an internship.”
Hired help
So what’s the difference between apprenticeships and internships?
Apprenticeships: According to the NAS apprenticeships are, “work-based training programmes designed around the needs of employers, which lead to national recognised qualifications. Apprentices are employees within a company, and are paid a wage.” The minimum wage you can pay an apprentice is £2.60 an hour, this will rise to £2.65 from 1 October this year.
Internships: These aren’t as straight forward as apprenticeships, with no current law specifically on paying interns or indeed statutory definition of internship. There are, however, guidelines in order to adhere to best practice. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has released the Internship Charter, a voluntary code of practice. It states, “As a bare minimum, the organisation should cover any necessary work-related expenses incurred by the intern.” According to Directgov, those who are exempt from national minimum wage (NMW) are students on work experience as part of a course,
those of compulsory school age and volunteers. It’s less clear about interns who are entitled to NMW, although it is generally accepted that if an intern has a contract of employment and is conducting work in place of a paid employee they should be receiving NMW.
